Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday debuted the next-generation Super Duty — part of the Dearborn automaker’s best-selling F-Series lineup — for model year 2023.
The redesigned lineup of pickup trucks and chassis cabs features new technology and targets best-in-class towing, payload, torque and horsepower in the heavy-duty full-size truck segment, according to Ford.
The 2023 Super Duty will have four available engine options, including the all-new standard 6.8-liter V8 gas engine and a new high-output 6.7-liter diesel V8 engine. The vehicles also will come equipped with embedded with 5G connectivity, enabling capabilities such as over-the-air software updates and WiFi hotspot access for up to 10 devices.
The redesigned lineup also adds an available trailer navigation tool and the new Ford Pro Upfit Integration System that’s designed to make it easier for commercial customers to add and operate equipment such as snowplows.Ford employees and executives revealed the new lineup during an event at Churchill Downs in Louisville Tuesday night.
“Super Duty is a name that is trusted to get the job done, and our customers have helped to make it the most popular commercial truck in America, bar none,” Ted Cannis, CEO of Ford Pro, said in a statement. “With state-of-the-art technology, including a 5G modem connected to a powerful ecosystem of productivity-boosting software and services, the all-new Super Duty can seamlessly shift from workhorse to office of the future.”
Underscoring just how lucrative the F-Series lineup is for the Blue Oval, Ford said Super Duty generated more revenue in 2021 than some Fortune 500 companies — including Southwest Airlines and Nordstrom.
Meanwhile, the new Upfit Integration System is a digital tool that gives aftermarket equipment makers better access to the lineup’s electrical systems and signals.
“Cloud-based software connects to the UIS so equipment makers can add digital buttons that allow drivers to control their equipment from inside the truck,” the company said in a news release. “The system also allows for high levels of customization and safety interlocks, like preventing the transmission from shifting into drive with a raised boom lift.”
Pro Power Onboard, which allows drivers to turn their vehicles into mobile generators, will be available on Super Duty with the new model year. The lineup comes with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
New available driver assist technologies include:
• Onboard scales with smart hitch, which estimates cargo weight in real time and provides guidance on trailer tongue weight distribution
• 360-degree trailer camera system, which provides a bird’s-eye view of the trailer
• An available tailgate down camera and tailgate down reverse sensing system that includes a new camera and reverse sensors in the top of the tailgate. The sensors give drivers visual and audible alerts when the tailgate is down.
“Our goal was to leave drivers with zero blind spots, even when towing the longest trailers,” Andrew Kernaham, Super Duty chief engineer, said in a statement. “Camera views provide every angle, from simulating a drone to making sure customers can see behind the truck even when the tailgate is down. Hitching and towing has never been easier.”
Additions such as new steps designed to provide easier bed access carry special meaning for David Demmith of West Bloomfield, a 22-year Ford employee who now works as the vehicle integration supervisor for Super Duty and owns a 2002 Super Duty with a 7.3-liter diesel engine.
Demmith’s son, now 11, used to greet him when he got home from work by running outside, climbing into the truck bed and throwing a bouncy ball.
“I would never have thought that eight years later, we are designing bed access to help people get in and out of the bed of the truck,” Demmith said in an interview.
Demmith’s love for autos — and trucks and towing in particular – started with him playing with matchbox cars as a child. When he was 13, his father — who worked at Ford for 32 years – bought him a Fox body Mustang and told him he could drive it when he turned 16 if he learned how to fix it up.
The Super Duty, however, is his favorite product in Ford’s lineup and the one on which he’s spent most of his career.
“Part of what makes it my favorite product is how versatile of a tool this truck actually is for our customers,” Demmith said. “What’s so cool about this truck is how it transitions from the greatest tool in the toolbox to a vehicle that the customer is proud of, to take out on a night on the town or simply to show off to their friends.”
Meanwhile, other new safety and security technology that’s available on the lineup include intelligent adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and lane centering; trailer theft alert; a vehicle security feature that uses sensors to monitor impact and towing events; front and rear brake assist; and full-color head-up display, among other features.Super Duty owners will have access to software tools from Ford Pro, Ford’s dedicated commercial vehicle business. Those tools include fleet management software and telematics. Super Duty customers also have access to Ford’s network of more than 650 commercial vehicle centers, more than 300 up-fitters and more than 700 mobile service vans.
Meanwhile, Super Duty’s redesigned exterior keeps an aluminum alloy body but includes seven new grilles that Ford says were engineered to maximize cooling performance while towing or hauling heavy loads. LED headlamps are now available on all trim levels. The lineup has new STX, Sport and Black appearance packages to choose from — and a new XL off-road package is available on the F-250 and F-350 single rear wheel pickup models. The Tremor off-road package also is available.
Inside Super Duty’s cabin, an eight-inch center display comes standard on the XL model while a 12-inch display is standard on higher trims. The interior features a customizable 12-inch digital instrument cluster; four USB power ports and available wireless charging pad; center console slots designed to hold a tablet upright; and max recline seats.
Ford’s debut follows General Motors Co.’s reveal Monday of Chevrolet’s 2024 Silverado HD, which will arrive next year with across-the-board upgrades to the powertrain, interior and trailering technology. And earlier Tuesday, Ford announced it will invest $700 million and add approximately 500 new jobs in Kentucky, primarily to support Super Duty production.
Super Duty models are built at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville and Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake. Pricing for the new model year lineup will be released closer to launch in early 2023.
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @JGrzelewski